SCREEWRITING: THE PROCESS

There's "Formula", and there's "Process", and most new screenwriters seem to get them confused. New writers, they hear about a writing "Process" and seem to immediately assume "process" means "formula". You'll be slave to a system, forced into a write-by-numbers approach, locked into a set of arbitrary "rules" who's sole purpose appears to be to decapitate any creative impulse until millions of us all end up writing the same story because that's what the "rules" lead us to.

I think they're mistaken. I think most new writers misinterpret the term. I think "Process" is our friend. From a creative standpoint, probably one of our BEST friends. I don't think "Process" means or leads inevitably to "Formula".

Process is what every professional writer has, and they're never the same. Yours shouldn't be. You're not Simon Kinberg, so why work like him? Or Robert Towne? Or Billy Wilder, or Billy Ray or fuck it - pick your favorite screenwriter (if you don't have at least 4 favorite screenwriters you can rattle off the top of your head, stop reading this blog and go back to working on your 7 act tone poem for the deaf).

The creative process is by nature different for everyone. You can't hear how some successful writer works and just emulate that. You'll inevitably feel constricted if you use someone else's process. So you must invent your own, and know what that process is. But in developing your own process you can certainly cherry pick techniques gleaned from other writers. Simply try different techniques and find out what works for YOU.

For example, Kinberg is big on detailed outlining, and detailed outlining is a writing technique that seems to work well FOR ME. So I've made it an integral part of My Process. I'm also big on theme. I think it's the heart of Story. So in my process, I never open Final Draft to write until I'm totally clear on my theme and have a solid outline.

MY PROCESS

Now what you've been dying to know (I just know you have): What is the Dangerous Screenwriter's Process? Glad you asked. Since I believe Theme is the core of all good storytelling as well as at the core of all good scenes, regardless of my story idea/concept/character idea etc., the first question I ask myself when designing every story I write is "What am I trying to say with this story? What is the story about?"

It is essential that I identify Theme first, because every scene, every subplot, every character and the plot itself all revolve around the theme. For me, if I don't identify a theme to work with as the first step in my process, everything's floating in space with no anchor. My Theme is the connective tissue for all of my scenes/characters/plot, but by no means is it set in stone. Throughout my preparation and first draft my Theme may change, but I need A Theme to anchor everything together and give my story a definite forward trajectory (notice I said my Theme may change, but not until after the first draft).

Throughout the entire preparation part of my Process I'm of course writing down anything - scenes, character traits, dialogue - ANYTHING that pertains to my story. I'm writing those things down, but I'm not working with them right now. That comes after I've identified my theme. Since my story is ultimately about my theme, once I know what it is my next step is to ask how I'm going to PHYSICALLY (show, don't tell) EXPRESS that theme. The answers to this question will dictate my settings, character actions scene content and settings/locations.

The first step in figuring out how those physical expressions will play out - the chronological telling of my story - is to ask myself "What is my main character's major flaw?". I design this flaw so it is in direct opposition to the Theme. This gives my story it's "drama", for whatever is opposing my main character are now the story's OBSTACLES, and they all relate directly to the Theme of the story. I can be as creative as I want, but within these guidelines I have no fear of drifting of on a tangent that isn't applicable to my story. At least, not too far.

For example, the theme of my current spec is "Life takes courage". So my main character's major flaw is he lives life/thinks of himself as a coward. If my theme is about courage and I have a main character who is the opposite of that theme, my main character now has a direction in which to grow. A direction that will be filled with obstacles which relate organically to the Theme and leads naturally to a solid CHARACTER ARC. Now I know that throughout the story my main character will grow from cowardice to bravery, or fail in that endeavor. Regardless of the story's outcome, since every scene is tied to theme and Character Arc, all scenes will now inevitably be an expression - positive or negative - of my Theme. My main character now has a solid Character Arc as well as a solid, PHYSICAL GOAL to fight toward.

Aside from a specific Theme, I now have my PROTAGONIST, my PLOT, my GOAL, my OBSTACLES and my STAKES. These are the core of my story, and they also happen to be the necessary components of my LOGLINE. It is at this point I feel I can now develop a "working" logline for my story.

Now that I've aligned my basic story components - plot, character, goals, stakes, obstacles and theme (as well as my logline) my next step is to create an outline or beat sheet. I start by identifying the beginning, first act marker, midpoint, second act marker and finale of my story. The objective here is to break a story into smaller pieces I can work with instead of writing a bunch of scene ideas and trying to fit them together like a puzzle. Might feel like an artistic process, but this is a business too, and if you want to get paid you need to turn things in on time, and to do that you can't put together puzzle after puzzle, never knowing how long it's going to take. A defined Process just makes things go faster. It's organization, nothing more. I'm setting dramatic markers within the story that my audience subconsciously expects, and they are aware when those markers have been violated. This is why people can say they like or didn't like a film, but can't express specifically why.

Also notice in designing my stories, I don't start writing until I know the end - what I'm writing toward. I think new writers who say "I'm just writing, letting it all come out, I don't know how it'll end" will never write a decent first draft (I can't speak for you pros). They'll have to do a TON of revision in the rewrites, because dramatic storytelling is all about SETUPS and PAYOFFS. How can you pay off something you haven't properly set up? How can you set up something if you don't anticipate what the payoff will be? By this point a lot of new writers may think I'm following a "Formula", but again, this is Process. My Process.

I feel like we're just passing the tip of the iceberg, and this post has become incredibly long already (even by my standards). So hopefully you'll be back shortly when I post part 2.

Cheers